1. Field of Invention
The invention relates generally to user interfaces and in particular to a user interface for interacting with a network cross connect.
2. Description of Related Art
Optical communication networks utilize a variety of network elements to transmit information from sender to receiver. One such network element is a cross connect which essentially serves as a switch for establishing paths along the network. Through a user interface, the cross connect allows a user to create connections, analyze connections and remove connections.
Existing user interfaces for cross connects have not adjusted to the rapid increase in cross connect size. Existing cross connects may implement multiple ports carrying data at a OC-192 level (i.e., 192 time slots). For a 16 port cross-connect, this results in a switch fabric of 3072 time slots by 3072 time slots, with sizes expected to increase. Conventional cross connect user interfaces are not designed to efficiently display such a high number of time slots collectively or per port.